Victorino cleared to play

Tuesday

May 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

BOSTON  Shane Victorino appears to be OK.A day after Victorino crashed into the right-field wall trying to catch what turned out to be a home run, the Red Sox announced that all tests on his ribs had...

Brian MacPherson Journal Sports Writer brianmacp

BOSTON  Shane Victorino appears to be OK.

A day after Victorino crashed into the right-field wall trying to catch what turned out to be a home run, the Red Sox announced that all tests on his ribs had come back negative and that hed been cleared to play.

The right fielder  who missed nine games earlier this season with discomfort in his lower back  initially stayed in the game but left after the seventh inning. He was examined at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Victorino has hit .308 with a .370 on-base percentage and .393 slugging percentage this season while playing a terrific defensive right field  just as Boston hoped when it signed him to a three-year, $39-million contract.

Whether Victorino is in the lineup on Tuesday at Tampa Bay will depend on how he feels. But it appears that he will avoid a trip to the disabled list.

The news was a break for a Red Sox team that has been hit hard by injuries in recent days.

Relievers Andrew Bailey (biceps) and Joel Hanrahan (forearm) have landed on the disabled list in the last week. Hanrahan will miss the rest of the season after he undergoes surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right arm. Catcher David Ross was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list with a concussion suffered when he took two foul balls off the mask on Saturday.

Third baseman Will Middlebrooks has missed just one game but has been playing through pain in his rib cage since a violent collision with Ross on Tuesday night.